On October 1 at 12:01 p.m., the U.S. federal government shut down, hours after the Senate failed to reach an agreement on the 12 appropriations bills for its upcoming fiscal year. In the days leading up to the standstill, tensions rose between the Republican and Democratic parties in Congress, neither of whom wanted to give […]
Tag: economics
There’s No Room for Business in Love
In the early 2000s, a new word started popping up to describe the ever-changing dating scene — situationship. Officially added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in September 2023, it has since become a staple for how Gen Z describes their love lives. For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s defined as “a romantic relationship whose members […]
Milei and MAGA: A Love Story
If the pragmatic James Carville gave us the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid,” we now have an ideologue’s response. Javier Milei, the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” President of Argentina, won the 2023 presidential election off the back of his rallying cry “Long live freedom, Goddamnit!” Just last month, Milei’s slogan, glistening and italicized, found itself engraved on […]
In a World With GoodRx & Cost Plus Drugs, Why Prescription Drug Prices Still Suck
Prescription drug prices are one of the biggest financial burdens for Americans and a major point of political contention. The soaring prices of lifesaving medications force many Americans to ration supply, skip dosages, switch to less effective alternatives, or stop their treatment entirely. Although companies like GoodRx, Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy, and others provide […]
Nigeria: How Resource Wealth Trapped a Nation in Neo-Feudalism
In the heart of Lagos, a crowd gathers—voices raised in unison, banners waving with the words ‘End Bad Governance.’ It’s 2024, and Nigerians have had enough. Economic hardship, soaring inflation, and corrupt leadership have driven thousands to the streets. They are protesting against a system where oil wealth trickles up, but never down. Nigeria boasts […]
The Modern-Day Pirates of the Middle East
In the rugged terrain of Yemen, where political lines blur and allegiances shift, the rise of the Houthi rebels marks a pivotal chapter in the nation’s turbulent history. The Red Sea, a critical piece in commerce and exchange, has become home to the Houthi rebels, a group causing chaos and disrupting geopolitics in the Middle […]
Private Markets Aren’t the Problem in Healthcare. It’s Patents.
The issue that destroys the most lives is an instrument intended to save lives. The United States widely implements patent protections for medical technology, but its use internationally leaves the most vulnerable populations at risk. This political tool damages developing economies and deprives millions of essential healthcare. Medical patents are licenses that grant pharmaceutical companies […]
How The Federal Reserve Quietly Worsens Inequality
The Federal Reserve is one of those institutions that everyone has heard of but no one really cares to talk about. Sure, you’ll have the odd conversation with your friend about rising interest rates and how that means something, probably, but are you really passionate about it? Do you get the same rush to open […]
Panda-Monium: The Love Story of Pandas and Washington
In 1972, two ambassadors left China for the U.S. They did not speak a word of English or Mandarin. In fact, they could hardly walk on two feet. These were not people, but pandas, China’s national animal. Since arriving in America, they have become an enduring symbol of the goodwill and cooperation between China and […]
America’s Potential Subsidy Race with Europe
“It should be a race against time, not a race against each other. It should be a race to the top, not a race to the bottom.” These were the words uttered by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in response to the American Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). While maintaining diplomatic poise, the E.U. […]
The Rise of Pseudo-Progressivism: What do the Federal Reserve and GameStop Have in Common?
Over the past decade, inequality has been recognized as one of the most important political problems of the 21st Century. In 2013, President Obama labeled the growing gap between the rich and poor “the defining challenge of our time.” The next year, French economist Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century—an explanation of how the […]
Building a Better Chile
September 11, 1973. Santiago, Chile. Latin America’s most stable democracy goes up in flames as jackbooted goons brutally murder thousands of civilians in the streets and arrest even more to be tortured and killed in prisons. General Augusto Pinochet, the head of Chile’s military, is mounting a coup d’état to seize power from democratically elected […]
The Outsider’s Insider
When most Berkeley students think about Evans Hall — the dull, rectangular building with the windowless classrooms that obscure any view of the Campanile — the term visual blight is likely the first thought that comes to mind. For Economics Professor Raymond Hawkins, however, Evans brings to mind a different memory: it was the location […]
The Powell Puzzle
There are two ways the story of Jerome Powell’s time as chair of the Federal Reserve is commonly told. One narrative goes like this: Powell is the most progressive Federal Reserve Chair since the New Deal, a staunch advocate of worker power, and the person who stopped financial calamity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The other […]
Striking Out: Why Strikes Weaken Union Positions Politically
The GM strike, beginning in September of 2019, is set to be the largest strike of the past 18 years. In fact, 2018 as a whole saw the largest number of strikes in decades and support for labor unions has polled at a 20 year high with candidates like Bernie Sanders highlighting their importance in […]
How Reparations Can Address Educational Inequities for Black American Students
While the rhetoric of a post-racial society has diminished the urgent claims for reparations, a national conversation has resurfaced. Largely because of the Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “A Case for Reparations” and the push to pass H.R. 40 (a bill to create a committee to research the impact of reparations), reparations are being reintroduced as a method […]
Unpopular Populism: The Dismal Prospects for Far-Right Politics in Canada
He has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax” perpetrated by “environmentalist alarmists.” His immigration policy includes building border fences, restricting family reunification, and making temporary foreign workers less competitive. And he spends much of his time railing against “the Liberal cult of diversity” on his Twitter account, a platform he uses to comment on — […]
New Paradigms of Prosperity: Challenging Traditional Metrics of Success
It’s a running joke across many college campuses that economics is the “dismal science”. For those who are not economists, it can be hard to connect abstract terms like “absorptive capacity” and “nonparametric statistical methods” to the real lives of people across the globe. Part of the reason that these concepts seem so obfuscated is […]
Sharing is Caring: The Politics and Consequences of Trump’s Trade War
Trump’s recent economic policies on levying tariffs against countries, primarily China, that have a trade deficit with the U.S. have consequences that go beyond just harming the other party. The effects of these policies can be felt right here at home, but your average American voter has a bad understanding of basic economics, not to […]
You Will Not Benefit From Social Security (Unless Changes Are Made)
It is likely you have been paying social security taxes for a large portion of your life. It is also likely you haven’t received any benefits because, even though social security benefits cover about 62 million people, only the elderly, disabled workers, and families with a deceased parent or spouse are covered. The program has […]
Whole Foods in the Rust Belt
“Bright” is the word that might best describe the United States’ economic powerhouse: Silicon Valley. Yet while San Jose and Palo Alto sparkle in the political spotlight, Midwestern towns of Detroit and Dayton have been left in the dark. For the last two decades, while manufacturing towns in the Rust Belt have declined, Silicon Valley […]
AI (Part I): Anew Infrastructure
“Artificial intelligence” (AI) is sometimes jokingly used to label tasks that computers cannot yet do. Among these is possessing a sense of humor, which “requires self-awareness, spontaneity, linguistic sophistication, and empathy,” and extends beyond the wonky errors of Google Translate and auto-generated YouTube captions. However, in spite of its apparent shortcomings, AI has silently yet […]
Is It Time To Rethink the Economics of Happiness?
Underpinning the nation’s mixed economy is the well-reasoned belief that more money equates to greater happiness. Unfortunately, 2017 has proved this finding deceiving. As wages continue to rise, “National Happiness” has not blossomed, but languished. As the United States is confronted by an increasingly dissatisfied populace, politicians across the nation are scrambling to assuage their […]
Trade and Transparency: The Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Elusive Agenda
In his first year in office, President Obama announced one of the primary goals of his international trade policy, U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement between a dozen nations along the Pacific coast. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the TPP represents the “cornerstone of the Obama […]
The High Cost of Threats: Sino-Israeli Relations
Say “economic sanctions” and three countries come to mind: Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Sanctions are usually reserved for historically hostile regimes, not long-time allies. Yet Obama administration and other Western European nations are threatening to impose sanctions on Israel, with the assumption that Israel is so dependent on Western markets that it will have […]